Good lord – is there no end to Bethenny Frankel‘s empire? Guess not! The mogul – and I mean mogul – should probably get her own version of The Apprentice already, which isn’t a bad idea actually. Adding to her list of products, the Bethenny Ever After star just released her first novel, Skinnydipping – which is more of a memoir with the names changed to protect the innocent.

To promote her newest book endeavor, Bethenny has been making the media rounds talking marriage, reality TV, and writing!

“I’ve been on reality television for 8 years,” Bethenny said on TODAY of taking a break to write ‘fiction’. “I’ve been on a lot of my reality — my first three books were prescriptive in how to lose weight and how to get the most out of life. ‘Skinnydipping’ is just fun, refreshing…. It’s just a palate cleanser.”

Bethenny credits her fans for keeping her grounded and says that’s what led her to pursue the talk show route. “I have incredible fans,” she explained. “I have a great relationship with them, whether it’s on Twitter, emails or letters, I know exactly who they are. We are in a relationship. It’s why I wanted to do a talk show. It’s for them, so we can have a conversation, rather than just watch me living my life on television.”

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And the talk show will also focus on Bethenny’s real life and her often tumultuous marriage to Jason Hoppy, which she says is still going strong. “I think it is my message to say, ‘Yeah, we’re not perfect. We’re flawed. I’m flawed but I’m having fun…. We have some not-so-good moments, but all in all, you can really get to where you want to get to. And we’ll do it together,'” she added.

Appearing on The View, Bethenny continued her dialogue about marriage and breadwinning. And responding to questions about last Monday’s episode where Jason admitted he was jealous of his wife’s career – and the passion she has for her work. Bethenny assures us that Jason is not the only one who struggles with their topsy-turvy untraditional gender roles. “I think we both struggle,” Bethenny clarified. “There are gender role differences in our house and I just think it’s not really something people talk about.”

And she has no interest in sugarcoating her life or hiding her reality. “I hear many reality stars say, ‘Have your reality TV life and then have your real life,'” Bethenny adds. “I never regret, I decided to totally go there and be honest. Sometimes I think ‘oh my god, did I go too far?’ It’s uncomfortable, but it’s worth it.”

As for criticisms that her novel may just be, you know, an autobiography – Bethenny kinda agrees. “Faith is the main character, we have a lot in common,” Bethenny describes. So, wow – this will be Bethenny’s fourth book about herself?

Finally, some great news for Bethenny! According to a new liquor industry report, Skinnygirl Cocktails was the fastest growing spirits brand in the US last year, posting a 388 percent sales increase. Wowzers. Y’all really love your low-cal cocktails!

MSNBC reports the company moved 586,000 cases in 2011. “The business last year dramatically overpeformed our expectations so that was a delight,” said Deb Boyda, mixables general manager at Beam reports of Skinnygirl’s success. “You have a product that was certainly on trend of being a lower calorie offering. It was backed by a celebrity that was coming on strong. And the liquid in the bottle itself is appealing, very female friendly. It’s also priced right.”

Well – congratulations Bethenny. Say what you want about her, she’s a marketing genius! Or really, really lucky…

[Photo Credit: Mr. Blue/WENN.com]

SURPRISED BY THE NEWS ABOUT SKINNYGIRL? DO YOU DRINK SKINNYGIRL COCKTAILS? DO YOU APPRECIATE BETHENNY’S HONESTY ABOUT HER MARRIAGE OR DOES SHE GO TOO FAR?